Welcome to the Arriva Heritage Fleet website

On 9 December 2005 Arriva operated London’s last regular Routemaster in service on route 159. Since then we have established ‘The Arriva Heritage Fleet’ to ensure that these much loved vehicles can be available for hire and still be seen in and around London.

For many years the company had been London’s largest Routemaster operator with over 180 buses operating on routes 19 (Battersea – Finsbury Park), 38 (Victoria – Clapton Pond), 73 (Stoke Newington – Victoria), 137 (Streatham Hill – Oxford Circus) and 159 (Streatham – Marble Arch)

Within a fleet of nine Routemasters we are proud to present RM2217 the bus that performed London’s very last scheduled journey on route 159 from Marble Arch. In addition this bus is numerically the final standard Routemaster and in the year before it ended passenger service toured the country disguised as a triple decker promoting the Harry Potter film ‘Prisoner of Azkaban’. The bus has been extensively restored to show condition by our staff.

Another celebrity in the fleet is RM6; the bus was painted gold to celebrate the Queen’s Golden Jubilee in 2002. It has been retained in gold livery and has proved a popular vehicle for wedding and shows.

London’s first production Routemaster (RM5) entered London service in 1959 and in near original condition is a reminder of how many Londoners remember the buses with traditional seat moquette, yellow ceilings and tungsten light bulbs.

Many people will remember London Transport’s famous publicity photo of a green Routemaster coach in a leafy country lane; we have that bus now in red livery.

Our open top Routemaster has proved popular for celebrating success with Chelsea and Arsenal two of its many customers, an ideal bus for racing events, carnivals and parades.

An unusual bus currently within our fleet is a Routemaster converted for exhibition use, originally to promote All Zones products the interior of the vehicle was converted to look like a modern house. Many of the features are permanent including a port hole in the floor between decks and connections for an external power supply. The bus travelled from London to Milan and back in 2005 to attend a design exhibition.

Restoration of three other vehicles is ongoing as we help to preserve a moving image of London’s history.

The future

The operational and engineering expertise within Arriva London is the foundation to keeping these buses smart and serviceable. We are keen for organisations to work with us and support the initiative. This could be through advertising or sponsorship of a vehicle. The opportunities to hire are extensive and taking a 40 year old bus across Europe has shown that no challenge is too great!